Doug Seed, senior assistant director and scholarship coordinator at UMass-Lowell, visits with a group of nearly 100 students at Chelmsford High School

by Jen Oemig

CHELMSFORD – When it comes time for graduating seniors to make a decision about where they plan to continue their education once they receive their high school diplomas, the task can be daunting.

And with so many other things going on in their lives, these students often aren’t able to visit all the schools they would like to before making that choice.

At Chelmsford High School, students have the opportunity to meet with admissions representatives from a plethora of institutions, from Boston University to North Carolina State and the University of Miami to Indiana University.

And it’s all done right on campus in the Career and College Readiness Center at CHS.

This fall, Alexandra Cunningham, the Career and College Readiness Facilitator at Chelmsford High School, has helped to coordinate visits with recruiters from over 85 colleges and universities.

“I try to schedule three a day, and they’re typically in the morning,” she said. “The students sign up via Scoir. It auto-populates on their page and lets them know what schools will be coming to Chelmsford.”

The students then come in and meet with the admissions representatives from the schools they may be interested in attending.

“These are the people who will be reading their applications,” Cunningham said. “If they’re interested in the school, they definitely want to get here to get some face-to-face time with these reps.”

Chelmsford High senior Matt Lallos fills out an information card during the college visit with UMass-Lowell

Cunningham said the admissions representatives can see when schools on Scoir have openings available for visits, and if they’re in the area, they sign up.

“I open slots from September all the way to December, and then do a few in the spring,” she said.

The representatives typically go over what campus life is like, as well as what to expect in terms of classes, majors, dorm living, athletics, extracurriculars, clubs, and, of course, the food. Each session lasts approximately 20-30 minutes.

“I’ve never seen sign-ups like this year,” Cunningham said, explaining that at least one student has signed up for every session available. “The students have been asking some great questions, so it’s awesome to see them interacting with the reps. And a lot of the times, you see them leave these visits with information that they didn’t know, as well as excitement about their futures.”

In terms of feedback, Cunningham said seniors often tell her they find the college visits to be incredibly helpful.

Students gather in the Chelmsford High School cafeteria for a college visit from UMass-Lowell

“Students always say these visits help them narrow down schools,” she said. “They’ll come to these visits with like 25 schools in mind, so it helps them narrow it down from a huge list to a smaller list.”

Cunningham said one of the most popular college visits every year is the University of Massachusetts-Lowell (UML), mainly due to its proximity to Chelmsford.

Nearly 100 CHS students had signed up for the session with the UML representative in early October. One of those students was senior Matt Lallos.

“It’s cool to see schools of all different sizes come here,” he said. “If you’re not going to college for sports, there’s not a lot you can do besides visit the schools and see them in person.”

Senior Kay Doherty visited with the representative from Salve Regina University earlier this month.

“I’m interested in soccer and have been in contact with the team for about a year, so I’ve been looking at this school for a while,” she said, noting that she also had an upcoming in-person visit planned. “I just wanted to know as much as possible before I fully commit there.”

Doherty said she, like other students at Chelmsford High, really appreciates the convenience of having admissions representatives visit the school.

“It’s easier than going in person. I can’t go to every school,” she said, explaining that Salve Regina is well over two hours away. “So, it’s nice to have these schools come here. It’s also during the school day, so it takes less time out of my weekends.”